Later that night, early hours of the morning
Steven Hyde drove around aimlessly for several hours. He had done what he had set out to do, so why did he feel like he had just single-handedly ruined his life. He couldn't get her grief stricken face off of his mind. He knew she would be upset, but he hadn't imagined she would take it as hard as she did. His words had literally devastated her. He didn't know that anyone was capable of feeling that much love for him. He hadn't realized that she loved him that much. The sad part was that he loved her probably just as much but now he had killed that love with his fear, his lack of faith, and his callousness. Much of what she had said in response to his words rang very true to him. He was afraid of loving her totally and completely, and without reservation, because someday she would leave him. Just like everybody else who had claimed to love him had.
He was filled with such a feeling of deep regret and despair. He'd really done it this time. There was no way she would ever forgive him for this. And to top it all off she thought he was cheating on her. He had Kelso to blame for that bit, but he knew who the majority of blame belonged to, himself. There was no way to fix this.
He drove by her house again around 2:30 A.M. Her bedroom light was still on, but the rest of the house was dark. It took every bit of strength he had to not go there and beg for forgiveness. If it actually would have done any good he probably would have.
Maybe if he stayed out of her way for a few weeks she would calm down and they could talk this out. Maybe they could remain friends. Oh who was he kidding, he couldn't be just friends with her. He loved her. He needed her. He wanted her. Even now he wanted her so badly he ached. She was like an addiction to him.
They had been lovers for over a year and a half. In that time they had become experts on each others bodies. Jackie's house being empty had certainly helped that endeavor along. They had made love nearly every day, sometimes several times a day. They never got tired of each other. The thought of another man touching her filled him with near-homicidal rage. He put his head in his hands. He couldn't believe he hadn't thought this through completely. He thought he had been cruel to be kind, but that whole theory had backfired on him big time.
Jackie sat on the cold tile of the bathroom floor, finally finished throwing up from drinking ½ a bottle of scotch. She's done it to numb the pain; ironically there wasn't enough alcohol in the whole overstocked liquor cabinet to numb all the pain she felt. She was wide awake. She had already slept for several hours. The kind of deep sleep that comes from crying yourself sick for hours. One thought filled her mind over and over again.
"I can't stay here. I've got to get away from this, away from him."
It was bad enough she had completely lost it in front of him. She vowed he would never see her at her lowest again. She was filled with rage. She had built her whole life around him. He was basically all she had in this world. She thought the same went for him, but the relationship they had been building for the last 2 years was apparently meaningless if he could just toss it aside like this.
The only friends she had were his friends. She had no illusions about whose side they would choose. It was bad enough having to have one ex boyfriend around all the time, but 2 would be unbearable. The major difference was she never really loved Michael. Oh sure, she thought she did at the time, but it had been infatuation in hind sight. What she felt for Steven was a hundred times stronger and deeper. She loved him more than anything, but now she was facing up to the fact that he didn't feel the same for her. And it hurt more than anything had ever hurt in her entire life.
She went over and over in her mind where she could go to start over. Once she left Point Place she had no intention of ever coming back. She was going to leave and never look back. There was nothing left here for her. She'd lost Steven, her father was in prison, and her mother was only God knows where.
There was only one person she could think of to ask for help, her half sister Jennifer. Jennifer was her much older sister from her father's ill- fated first marriage. He had married Jennifer's mother his freshman year of college. They had been high school sweethearts. The marriage had fallen apart when Jennifer was 5 years old. Her father had met Jackie's mother attending Harvard Law School and had fallen in love with her and began having an affair. Her father divorced Jennifer's mother and married Jackie's mother and the rest as they say was history.
Jackie barely knew Jennifer due to Jackie's mother never allowing her husband's other child to intrude on her life. Her father always had to fly out to visit Jennifer in New York and as the years passed the visits became few and far between. The last Jackie had heard her sister had married some Wall Street investment banker.
Jackie dug around in her father's office looking for his address book. She found what she was looking for and went back to her bedroom to make the call.
Jackie was extremely nervous about making the call to her sister. How do you ask someone who is basically a stranger for help? Jackie finally got up the nerve to call. It was 6:00 A.M in Wisconsin and 7:00 A.M. in New York.
A woman answered. "Is Jennifer there?" Jackie nervously asked. The woman sounded half asleep. She yawned "This is Jennifer, who is this?"
"Its Jackie"
"Jackie who?"
"Jackie Burkhardt, your sister."
Jennifer yawned again "Oh hi Jackie, it's a little early isn't it."
"I'm sorry Jennifer, I just don't know what else to do, or who to call."
"It's ok, what's wrong Jackie?" asked Jennifer, who was getting alarmed that there was something really wrong. "Is it Dad?"
"No Dad's fine, he's still in jail, but he's ok."
Jackie hesitated for a moment but then finally spilled the details "I need to get away. My boyfriend dumped me last night. I don't have anything else to keep me here. I want to start over someplace new. I was thinking New York City would be perfect. Would it be ok for me to stay with you for awhile, until I could find a job and get my own place?"
Jennifer was silent for a moment, thinking, but also still half asleep.
"Jennifer are you still there?"
"Yes, I'm sorry Jackie, I don't see why not. I've always wanted us to get to know each other better. Do you need me to arrange your plane ticket? I know things are tight for you with Dad in jail."
"If you could, I'd pay you back later. I've got to go pick up my last paycheck, quit my job, and I'm going to sell my car today." said Jackie.
"Jackie, you're selling your car?" asked Jennifer, concerned her sister was going off the deep end.
"Yes, I need the money and I won't need it up there." Jackie explained.
"I'll get you a flight out for 7PM tonight. Does that give you enough time to get everything you need together?
"Yes, it should be more than enough." said Jackie gratefully.
"Jackie, wait there. I'm going to call the airline, get your flight booked, and I'll call you back with the details in a few minutes ok?
"Ok, thanks Jennifer." Jackie said tearfully.
"Jackie, don't cry honey, everything will be alright, you'll see." assured Jennfer.
Jackie hung up the phone in relief but a bit anxious. The wheels were in motion now. This time tomorrow she would be in the big apple.
Steven Hyde drove around aimlessly for several hours. He had done what he had set out to do, so why did he feel like he had just single-handedly ruined his life. He couldn't get her grief stricken face off of his mind. He knew she would be upset, but he hadn't imagined she would take it as hard as she did. His words had literally devastated her. He didn't know that anyone was capable of feeling that much love for him. He hadn't realized that she loved him that much. The sad part was that he loved her probably just as much but now he had killed that love with his fear, his lack of faith, and his callousness. Much of what she had said in response to his words rang very true to him. He was afraid of loving her totally and completely, and without reservation, because someday she would leave him. Just like everybody else who had claimed to love him had.
He was filled with such a feeling of deep regret and despair. He'd really done it this time. There was no way she would ever forgive him for this. And to top it all off she thought he was cheating on her. He had Kelso to blame for that bit, but he knew who the majority of blame belonged to, himself. There was no way to fix this.
He drove by her house again around 2:30 A.M. Her bedroom light was still on, but the rest of the house was dark. It took every bit of strength he had to not go there and beg for forgiveness. If it actually would have done any good he probably would have.
Maybe if he stayed out of her way for a few weeks she would calm down and they could talk this out. Maybe they could remain friends. Oh who was he kidding, he couldn't be just friends with her. He loved her. He needed her. He wanted her. Even now he wanted her so badly he ached. She was like an addiction to him.
They had been lovers for over a year and a half. In that time they had become experts on each others bodies. Jackie's house being empty had certainly helped that endeavor along. They had made love nearly every day, sometimes several times a day. They never got tired of each other. The thought of another man touching her filled him with near-homicidal rage. He put his head in his hands. He couldn't believe he hadn't thought this through completely. He thought he had been cruel to be kind, but that whole theory had backfired on him big time.
Jackie sat on the cold tile of the bathroom floor, finally finished throwing up from drinking ½ a bottle of scotch. She's done it to numb the pain; ironically there wasn't enough alcohol in the whole overstocked liquor cabinet to numb all the pain she felt. She was wide awake. She had already slept for several hours. The kind of deep sleep that comes from crying yourself sick for hours. One thought filled her mind over and over again.
"I can't stay here. I've got to get away from this, away from him."
It was bad enough she had completely lost it in front of him. She vowed he would never see her at her lowest again. She was filled with rage. She had built her whole life around him. He was basically all she had in this world. She thought the same went for him, but the relationship they had been building for the last 2 years was apparently meaningless if he could just toss it aside like this.
The only friends she had were his friends. She had no illusions about whose side they would choose. It was bad enough having to have one ex boyfriend around all the time, but 2 would be unbearable. The major difference was she never really loved Michael. Oh sure, she thought she did at the time, but it had been infatuation in hind sight. What she felt for Steven was a hundred times stronger and deeper. She loved him more than anything, but now she was facing up to the fact that he didn't feel the same for her. And it hurt more than anything had ever hurt in her entire life.
She went over and over in her mind where she could go to start over. Once she left Point Place she had no intention of ever coming back. She was going to leave and never look back. There was nothing left here for her. She'd lost Steven, her father was in prison, and her mother was only God knows where.
There was only one person she could think of to ask for help, her half sister Jennifer. Jennifer was her much older sister from her father's ill- fated first marriage. He had married Jennifer's mother his freshman year of college. They had been high school sweethearts. The marriage had fallen apart when Jennifer was 5 years old. Her father had met Jackie's mother attending Harvard Law School and had fallen in love with her and began having an affair. Her father divorced Jennifer's mother and married Jackie's mother and the rest as they say was history.
Jackie barely knew Jennifer due to Jackie's mother never allowing her husband's other child to intrude on her life. Her father always had to fly out to visit Jennifer in New York and as the years passed the visits became few and far between. The last Jackie had heard her sister had married some Wall Street investment banker.
Jackie dug around in her father's office looking for his address book. She found what she was looking for and went back to her bedroom to make the call.
Jackie was extremely nervous about making the call to her sister. How do you ask someone who is basically a stranger for help? Jackie finally got up the nerve to call. It was 6:00 A.M in Wisconsin and 7:00 A.M. in New York.
A woman answered. "Is Jennifer there?" Jackie nervously asked. The woman sounded half asleep. She yawned "This is Jennifer, who is this?"
"Its Jackie"
"Jackie who?"
"Jackie Burkhardt, your sister."
Jennifer yawned again "Oh hi Jackie, it's a little early isn't it."
"I'm sorry Jennifer, I just don't know what else to do, or who to call."
"It's ok, what's wrong Jackie?" asked Jennifer, who was getting alarmed that there was something really wrong. "Is it Dad?"
"No Dad's fine, he's still in jail, but he's ok."
Jackie hesitated for a moment but then finally spilled the details "I need to get away. My boyfriend dumped me last night. I don't have anything else to keep me here. I want to start over someplace new. I was thinking New York City would be perfect. Would it be ok for me to stay with you for awhile, until I could find a job and get my own place?"
Jennifer was silent for a moment, thinking, but also still half asleep.
"Jennifer are you still there?"
"Yes, I'm sorry Jackie, I don't see why not. I've always wanted us to get to know each other better. Do you need me to arrange your plane ticket? I know things are tight for you with Dad in jail."
"If you could, I'd pay you back later. I've got to go pick up my last paycheck, quit my job, and I'm going to sell my car today." said Jackie.
"Jackie, you're selling your car?" asked Jennifer, concerned her sister was going off the deep end.
"Yes, I need the money and I won't need it up there." Jackie explained.
"I'll get you a flight out for 7PM tonight. Does that give you enough time to get everything you need together?
"Yes, it should be more than enough." said Jackie gratefully.
"Jackie, wait there. I'm going to call the airline, get your flight booked, and I'll call you back with the details in a few minutes ok?
"Ok, thanks Jennifer." Jackie said tearfully.
"Jackie, don't cry honey, everything will be alright, you'll see." assured Jennfer.
Jackie hung up the phone in relief but a bit anxious. The wheels were in motion now. This time tomorrow she would be in the big apple.